Nearly a quarter of Walmart's electricity across the globe comes from renewable resources, and the company diverts almost 82 percent of U.S. stores' waste from landfills. The retailer also has accelerated the pace at which it's evaluating products for sustainability.
Walmart is making progress on three environmental goals outlined by Lee Scott in 2005, the company said. The former president and chief executive officer's initiative called for the retailer to be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy, to create zero waste and to sell products that sustain people and the environment.
"We always say sustainability is a journey. You never reach the finish line," said Manuel Gomez, Walmart's vice president of sustainability. "We've made great progress in the last nine years, but there is still a lot to do. There is always another mountain to climb."
Walmart must balance what is good for the environment with what is good for the company financially, Gomez said. His job of spearheading changes is a bit easier because company leaders see the sustainability steps as a good investment, he said.
Some of the practices, such as installing skylights to provide natural lighting, can lower electricity costs, the company reports.
Walmart is testing some initiatives close to its Bentonville headquarters, including wind power and rainwater harvesting, said Tara Greco, the company's director of sustainability communications.
Greco pointed to the Fayetteville Sam's Club's use of a rainwater harvesting system that captures more than 700,000 gallons of rainwater a year. The water is used in the club's cooling tower and irrigation system and reduces the amount of potable water consumed on site, she said.
Critics say the company is not doing enough to reduce its carbon footprint.
"I think Walmart needs to stop investing in being a bigger company and invest in becoming a better company," said Stacy Mitchell, co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. The institute in November released a report looking at Walmart's sustainability efforts.
Walmart operates more than 11,000 retail units under 71 banners in 27 countries. There were 4,364 stores and 645 Sam's Clubs in the U.S. as of Nov. 30.
Energy
"More than ever, we know that our goal to be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy is the right goal, and we know that marrying up renewables with energy efficiency is especially powerful: for our customers, for our shareholders and for our grandchildren's future," Mike Duke, former Walmart president and CEO, proclaimed in April in the 2014 Global Responsibility Report.
Gomez said reaching the 100 percent mark may not make sense from a risk management point of view. Any building utilizing renewable energy needs a traditional power grid as backup.
"Something from the high 90s might be better," he said. "We'll go as high as possible."
Greco said companies that say they are 100 percent renewable have purchased energy credits to offset usage from the traditional grid that could be powered by coal.
Greco said Walmart uses many renewable energy sources including wind, solar, hydro and biogas. The company creates some of the energy through solar panels on roofs and wind turbines in parking lots. A majority of its renewable energy is purchased from other providers.
Walmart's renewable energy projects and purchases provided about 8 percent of electricity needs globally last year and 3 percent in the U.S. The traditional power grid supplied another 16 percent globally and 11 percent in the U.S.
Mitchell said if Walmart were a state, its U.S. electricity consumption would rank ahead of 12 states. She said the retailer's electrical uses include the burning of 4.2 million tons of coal a year, or 1 percent of all coal burned in the U.S.
"That's enough to give every kid in America a stocking filled with 126 pounds of the sooty stuff as a holiday present," according to her report, "Walmart's Dirty Energy Secret."
She said Walmart's renewable projects barely make a dent in its coal-generated power consumption.
Walmart announced Nov. 20 plans to install up to 400 solar projects over the next four years at U.S. stores.
The Solar Energy Industries Association places Walmart at the top of its annual "Solar Means Business Report," which identifies major commercial solar projects and ranks America's top 25 corporate solar uses. Walmart produced 105.1 megawatts of solar energy at 254 locations, making it the commercial solar leader for the third consecutive year.
The association is a national trade association with members that research, manufacture, distribute, finance and build solar projects domestically and abroad.
"For any kind of national trend or movement to take place, it takes someone to do it first," said Ken Johnson, vice president of communications for the association. "Walmart is leading the charge."
Reducing Trash
Walmart set a deadline of 2025 to reach its goal of sending no waste to landfills. The 2014 Global Responsibility Report states 81.66 percent of store materials from U.S. stores, clubs, distribution centers and other facilities are diverted.
Total annual waste generated from U.S. operations declined 3.3 percent last year compared to 2010, according to the report.
Kathleen McLaughlin, senior vice president of sustainability and president of the Walmart Foundation, said during the October sustainability meeting that about 30 percent of the world's food is wasted, with about half lost in production and the rest at consumers' homes. She said about 1 or 2 percent is lost at retailers.
"Our commitment is getting store waste to zero" for food, she said.
The Zero-Waste-to-Landfill program donated 571 million pounds of food, or the equivalent of 368.6 million meals, to food banks and hunger relief organizations like Feeding America.
The retailer also reused organic material and worked directly with suppliers to turn 56 million pounds of recovered cooking oil into bio-diesel, soap or a supplement for animal feed.
Mitchell said Walmart contributes to the country's overall waste by selling cheap, disposable products that end up in landfills.
"This is not good for the environment," she said.
Improving Products
The goal of selling items that sustain people and the environment is something Walmart is doing in-house and through its product suppliers, the company said.
The company exceeded its goal in April to reduce packaging by 5 percent compared to 2008 by eliminating unneeded packaging and reducing the remaining packaging.
Greco said when Walmart began this effort in 2007 there was no way to measure wasteful packaging so the company worked with other companies, the government and nonprofits to develop a scorecard. The new rating focuses on the overall greenhouse gas emissions released because of packaging. Greco said the company was able to reduce that amount by 9.8 percent in Walmart U.S. stores, 9.1 percent in U.S. Sam's Clubs and 16 percent in Walmart Canada stores.
One example of reduced packaging is when the company eliminated 16 percent of paper fiber in Great Value margarine packages in 2011.
Walmart uses the Sustainability Consortium, a global organization working to improve consumer product sustainability, to track its progress on brands other than the house brand.
Walmart helped launch the consortium in 2009 to develop information on various product characteristics. The group is composing an index to grade sustainability. The index asks a set of basic questions that provide suppliers an opportunity to highlight important steps they are taking toward sustainability and addresses areas for improvement.
The index is being applied to more than 700 of Walmart's 1,100 product categories. Walmart had 200 product categories on the list in September 2013.
The company announced that by the end of 2017 it will buy 70 percent of the goods sold in U.S. stores and Sam's Clubs from suppliers who use the Sustainability Index.
Sheila Bonini, chief executive officer of the Sustainability Consortium, said Walmart is not the only retailer using information from the group. A handful of major retailers across the globe are preparing pilot programs utilizing something like the index.
"All retailers would like to sell more sustainable products," she said. "This is not just a proprietary solution for Walmart, but is working toward an industry solution."
NW News on 01/03/2015